Bacha bazi

Bacha bāzī (Persian: بچه بازی, lit. 'boy play')^[1] is a practice in which men (sometimes called bacha baz) buy and keep adolescent boys (sometimes called dancing boys) for entertainment and sex.^[2][3] It is a custom in Afghanistan and in historical Turkestan and often involves sexual slavery and child prostitution by older men of young adolescent males.^[4]

According to German ethnographic research, the phenomenon is up to a thousand years old. As far back as the 9th or 10th century, the mountainous regions that are now northern Afghanistan were known for this practice.^[5]

Bacha bazi was outlawed during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan period.^[6][7][8] Nevertheless, it was widely practiced. Force and coercion were common, and security officials of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan stated they were unable to end such practices and that many of the men involved in bacha bazi were powerful and well-armed warlords.^[9][10][11]

During the time of Taliban rule currently and previously, bacha bazi carries the death penalty under Taliban law.^[12] Under the Islamic Republic government, the practice of dancing boys was illegal under Afghan law, but the laws were seldom enforced against powerful offenders, and police had reportedly been complicit in related crimes.^[13][14] The practice of bacha bazi had decreased under the rule of the Islamic Republic government.^[15][16] On 23 September 2016, the Taliban militants in northern Baghlan province executed a man and a boy on charges of “bacha bazi” (pederasty).^[17]

U.S. government forces in Afghanistan after the invasion of the country reportedly deliberately ignored bacha bazi abuse by Afghan allies.^[18] This caused controversy. The U.S. military responded by claiming the abuse was largely the responsibility of the "local Afghan government".^{[citation needed]}